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Friday, October 29, 2010

Roasted Carrot & Ginger Soup - my "miracle" soup

This soup is a miracle. I'm not kidding. You see, I was one of those picky kids, who refused to eat cooked carrots. I'd rather be denied dessert, than to eat the boiled carrots my mother would sometimes put on our dinner plate. For most of younger years of life, I continued to pick the carrots out of any kind of "vegetable medley". As I began to blossom into a grown woman, I began to eat carrots to be polite. Still, I didn't really care for them. Well, now that I'm a self-proclaimed "Foodie", it's time for me to try and overcome my childhood aversions. The first step was the Glazed Carrots that I made a couple of years ago. Success! Still, I continued to feel disappointment if I saw "Carrot-Ginger Soup" as the soup of the day on a restaurant menu.
At my office, I was the sole person who didn't rave about what a delicious soup this is, when someone recently said how much they love Carrot-Ginger Soup. You see, I've never tried it. Yes, t'is true. So I decided to do a little internet research and I realized that this soup is very easy to make. An idea was born! I gambled that if I roasted the carrots, first, that I just might kick up the flavor a notch or two! I decided that I wouldn't peel the carrots. Why bother? I'm going to puree them anyway, and don't the experts say that's where most of the nutrients are? Sounds good, but truth be told-- it was less work, and I liked that. So, here we go:

Preheat the oven to 375. I had five organic carrots from Whole Foods. On sale, no less. Wash the carrots and cut off the bottom root end. Place the whole carrots (or you can cut them lengthwise) on a baking sheet, and drizzle with olive oil. Roast at 375 until tender and caramelized (shake the pan about halfway through to evenly roast); about 45 minutes. Set aside.

Look at the caramelization on these babies! I cut a piece and tasted it. Wow! They are sweet, and resemble the texture of baked sweet potatoes. NOTE TO SELF: Add salt & pepper, sometime, and eat these as a side dish. They are a whole new animal, when they are roasted!

But, I'm making soup... Carrot-Ginger, to be specific.

Dried ginger doesn't compare to freshly grated ginger. I love it!

I decided to dice two shallots (about 3/4 cup) because I like their milder flavor. Yellow onions would do nicely, though. I diced two ribs on celery, 1 clove minced garlic (not pictured) and grated about 2 teaspoons of fresh ginger. Okay, it's showtime!

In a Dutch Oven, I heated some olive oil and a pat of unsalted butter. I sauteed the shallots until tender (about 2-3 minutes) on a medium heat, being careful not to burn them.

Next I added the celery, ginger and garlic. For seasoning, I used coarse salt and about 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper. (Black pepper would do, but I wanted to keep the orange color free of color.)

I love to make my own chicken stock, but I'm out of it for now. I always keep a reserve of quality chicken broth on hand, so I grabbed a 1-Quart box. (You can easily replace this recipe with vegetable stock.) I added the roasted carrots into the pot and half of the chicken stock. I brought the soup to a light simmer and then I used my immersion blender to puree the vegetables together. NOTE: If you are using a blender, then you will need to puree this in batches. Be very careful to put a towel on the lid of the blender, so you don't have an accident. Personally, I recommend buying an immersion blender. It will make your life a lot easier, if you love pureed soups as much as we do!

The pureed carrots became pretty thick, so added the rest of the chicken stock-- one quart, total. At this point I added some coarse salt as seasoning and a little more white pepper. Hmmm. I wanted even more flavor. Ah! White wine! I added a big splash of sauvignon blanc (about 1/4 cup). Better, but I wanted more flavor. Then it hit me-- orange juice! I added a splash of fresh orange juice (slightly less then 1/4 cup). That was it! I cut fresh chives from our herb garden, as a garnish.

...and then I took my first taste of Carrot-Ginger Soup. The miracle happened. I smiled. I liked it!VERDICT: Speaking for my husband, he asked me what was in the soup. He said it had delicious flavor, but he questioned if it was really carrot soup. He said it was sweet, creamy and flavorful. He ate two bowls, as did I. This is guilt-free soup, because it's creamy without any kind of heavy cream added. The balance of ginger was very subtle. The natural sweetness of the carrots was the star, but you could taste a mild heat of the ginger as you swallowed. But there was a second miracle-- my son, who has inherited my picky palate when I was his age-- he ate two bowls. He loved it.

I see future variation possibilities for this soup. Sometime, I will add a can of Lite Coconut Milk, and some fresh lime juice. Yeah? A garnish of cilantro will bring this home with Thai flavors.

So, miracles can happen when someone makes a decision to overcome childhood aversions. Do you have a picky carrot eater? Give this a try! Let them guess what's in it. Maybe you'll change your mind. I did!

You got me with the title. I LOVE carrot soup, especially with ginger! In fact, I just had some for lunch - carrot soup with apple and curry. I never thought of roasting - that would make the flavor even better!

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Welcome to my internet kitchen. Please, sit back and relax, and watch me make delicious food and bakery recipes. Most of my recipes are simple, flavorful meals-- and a few baked treats. I focus on using fresh, seasonal ingredients and I try to avoid using boxed mixes and processed foods. I'm having fun learning how to cook like my grandmother once did-- from scratch! I hope that my step-by-step photos will inspire a timid cook to try them. Even if you're a seasoned cook, hopefully you'll learn a new tip or two.

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